Hasbro upgraded after super-hero deal

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Shares of Hasbro Inc., maker of Transformers, Scrabble and Furby toys, jumped on Tuesday after an upgrade following a licensing deal with Marvel Entertainment.

Shares of Hasbro
HAS, +0.05%
closed up 6.8% at $21.56 on the New York Stock Exchange, after hitting a session high of $21.57.

The Pawtucket, R.I., company, whose portfolio includes My Little Pony, G.I. Joe and Star Wars action figures, on Monday disclosed a deal with Marvel Entertainment
MVL, +2.20%
in which Hasbro will make toys and games based on characters like Spider-Man, Captain America, the Fantastic Four and X-Men.

Piper Jaffray analyst Anthony Gikas boosted his rating on Hasbro to outperform from market perform and raised the price target to $24.50 from $18.

"We view the agreement as a milestone deal," Gikas wrote in a note to clients. "We view Marvel products as entirely incremental to Hasbro's product line and an attractive complement as Star Wars product sales trend lower."

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